East Florida

Colony of Great Britain, later of Spain and military government of the United States

See also: West Florida

East Florida

1763–1822

Left: Red Ensign of Great Britain
Right: Flag of the Spanish Empire

Status| Colony of Great Britain (1763–1783)
Colony of Spanish Empire within the Viceroyalty of New Spain (1783–1821)
Provisional military government of the United States (1821–1822)
Capital| St. Augustine
Governor|

• 1763–1784

| 5 under Britain

• 1784–1821

| 8 under Spain

• 1821

| 1 U.S. military commissioner
History|

• Treaty of Paris

| 10 February, 1763

• Transferred to Spain

| 25 November 1783

• Adams–Onís Treaty

| 1821

• Merged into Territory of Florida

| 30 March, 1822

Preceded by | Succeeded by

|

|  | Spanish Florida

|

| Territory of Florida |

|

East Florida (Spanish: Florida Oriental) was a colony of Great Britain from 1763 to 1783 and a province of the Spanish Empire from 1783 to 1821. The British gained control over Spanish Florida in 1763 as part of the Treaty of Paris that ended the Seven Years' War. Deciding that the colony was too large to administer as a single unit, British officials divided Florida into two colonies separated by the Apalachicola River: the colony of East Florida, with its capital located in St. Augustine; and West Florida, with its capital located in Pensacola. East Florida was much larger and comprised the bulk of the former Spanish colony and most of the current state of Florida. It had also been the most populated region of Spanish Florida, but before control was transferred to Britain, most residents – including virtually everyone in St. Augustine – left the territory, with most migrating to Cuba.[1]

Britain tried to attract settlers to the two Floridas without much success. The sparsely populated colonies were invited to send representatives to the Continental Congress but chose not to do so, and they remained loyal to Great Britain during the American Revolutionary War. However, as part of the 1783 treaty in which Britain officially recognized the independence of thirteen of its former colonies as the United States, it ceded both Floridas back to Spain, which maintained them as separate colonies while moving the boundary east to the Suwannee River.

By the early 1800s, Spain had proved uninterested in and incapable of organizing or defending either of the two Floridas much beyond the two small capital cities. American settlers moved into the territory without authorization, causing conflict with the Seminoles, a new Native American culture formed by indigenous refugees from the American Southeast. During the War of 1812, the American military invaded Florida, occupying West Florida while East Florida remained in Spanish hands. American settlers in East Florida further weakened Spanish control in 1812 when a group of Americans, mostly from Georgia, calling themselves the "Patriots", declared the short-lived Republic of East Florida at Amelia Island with semi-official support from the U.S. government.

Border disputes between the United States and Seminoles in Florida continued after the war. By 1817, much of Spanish West Florida had been occupied and annexed by the United States over Spanish objections, with the land eventually becoming portions of the states of Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi. After a decade of intensifying border disputes and American incursions, Spain ceded both Floridas to the U.S. in the Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819. The U.S. officially took possession in 1821; in 1822, all of East Florida and the few remaining portions of West Florida were combined into a single Florida Territory with borders that closely approximated those of the current state of Florida.

## British period

[edit]

Excerpt of 1803 map by John Cary showing East and West Florida, limited by the United States' claim to part of Spain-controlled West Florida

See also: Spanish Florida and History of Florida

Under the terms of the 1763 Treaty of Paris, which ended the Seven Years' War (the French and Indian War), Spain ceded Spanish Florida to Britain. At the same time, Britain received all of French Louisiana east of the Mississippi River, with the exception of New Orleans, from France. Determining the new territory too large to administer as one unit, Britain divided its new southeastern acquisitions into two new colonies separated by the Apalachicola River: East Florida, with its capital in the old Spanish city of St. Augustine, and West Florida, with its capital at Pensacola. However, most of the Spanish population departed following the signing of the treaty, with the entirety of St. Augustine emigrating to Cuba.[1]

The settlement of East Florida was heavily linked in London to the same interests that controlled Nova Scotia. The East Florida Society of London and the Nova Scotia Society of London had many overlapping members, and Council frequently followed their suggestions on the granting of lands to powerful merchant interests in London.

> Perhaps it is strange to think of such dissimilar geographic areas with such opposing climates as having much in common. But if one considers naval and military strategy, one can see that these areas have a common significance, especially when viewed from London by the ministry. Halifax (Nova Scotia) was the command post for both the admiral and general in charge of the American forces.... St. Augustine evoked the same strategic considerations. These posts have been described as the two centers of strength to which the British Army was withdrawn in the late 1760s.[2]

The apportionment of lands in the new colonies fell to the same group of English and Scottish entrepreneurs and merchant interests, led chiefly by the Scottish slave trader Richard Oswald and the British general James Grant, who would later become governor of East Florida. A list of the grantees in both Florida and Canada shows that the plums fell to a well-connected—and inter-connected—group. Lincoln's Inn barrister Levett Blackborne, grandson of Sir Richard Levett, a powerful merchant and Lord Mayor of London, came in for grants of 20,000 acres (81 km2) in both locales, for instance. Other aristocrats, nobles, and merchants did the same.

The most powerful lubricant between the East Florida speculators and the Nova Scotia speculators was Col. Thomas Thoroton of Flintham, Nottinghamshire. Thoroton, the stepbrother of Levett Blackborne, had married an illegitimate daughter of the Duke of Rutland and often lived at Belvoir Castle, where he acted as principal agent to the Duke, who, along with his son, the Marquis of Granby, were heavily involved in overseas ventures. Thoroton frequently acted as the go-between for Richard Oswald and James Grant, particularly after those two gave up their Nova Scotia Grants to focus on East Florida, where a drumbeat of steady speculation (particularly from Andrew Turnbull and William Stork) had fanned the flames of interest in London.[2] It was not until March 1781 that the Governor of East Florida, Patrick Tonyn, called elections for a provincial legislature.[3]

East Florida remained loyal to Great Britain during the American Revolution. The colony became a haven for Loyalist refugees and fugitive slaves fleeing to British lines from the Southern Colonies during the American War of Independence, and several military units were established by Loyalists in East Florida.[4]

Spain participated indirectly in the war as an ally of France and captured Pensacola from the British in 1781. In the 1783 Treaty of Paris, which ended the war, the British ceded both Floridas to Spain. The same treaty recognized the independence of the United States, directly to the north.

### Government

[edit]

"Governor of British East Florida" was an appointed position. A legislative council did exist which shared power with the governor. The governor could appoint officials but they needed to be approved by the British government. These positions included: an attorney general, chief justice, coroner, etc. An official could be suspended but needed to get the council's consent. A court relating to maritime cases, the East Florida Court of Vice Admiralty was created in April 1771. The British province of East Florida had a royal seal, as did the province of West Florida.[5] The seal for East Florida had on one side a depiction of a fortified town and harbor with the Latin motto Moresque Viris et Moenia Ponet[6] ("He will establish customs for men, and walls").[7]

### Demography

[edit]

#### Racial demographics

[edit]

During the period of British rule in East Florida, the black population came to outnumber the white population in the province by a ratio of 2 to 1. The ratio of blacks to whites in East Florida was lower than in British West Florida but higher than in the other southern British colonies. Those who were white in Florida generally served in the military or worked as overseers, artisans, or merchants. There were very few white yeomen farmers. White residents generally lived in or around St. Augustine with an exception being generally made for overseers and those who resided in New Smyrna.[8] Due to the poor treatment of Minorcans in New Smyrna, some left for St. Augustine, where a large number of them lived in a section of the city known as the "Minorcan Quarter" or the "Greek Quarter".[9]

#### Population and other characteristics

[edit]

It is unclear what the population of East Florida was prior to the American Revolution but it is estimated to have had a population of close to 3,000, making it much larger in population than West Florida, which is believed to have had only several hundred residents.[10] The British tried to encourage settlement in East and West Florida, thinking it would take pressure off the proclamation line that colonists in the northern British colonies wanted to move beyond. However, this plan was generally unsuccessful as many of those who got land grants did not end up settling on those lands.[11] By 1783 the population of East Florida was about 17,000.[12]

During the American Revolution, East Florida sided with the British and became a loyalist haven.[13] With the end of the Revolution and the handing over of both Floridas to the Spanish, many loyalists were hesitant to leave.[14] In the end, most of the loyalist and British residents, approximately 10,000 people, left with most of these going to the Bahamas or West Indies and some going to Nova Scotia and England. Another 4,000 people "melted away into the wilderness", with some going as far away as the Mississippi River.[12]

A town named St. Johns Bluff or St. Johns Town was laid out in 1779 along the St. Johns River. The planned community was the first town to be established on the river.[15] Most of those who fled to Florida settled at that town and St. Augustine. St. Johns Bluff became a port and had 300 houses in it by the spring of 1783.[16] With the end of the British period, it was renamed as St. Vincent Ferrer before it was eventually abandoned.[15] A settlement named Rollestown was established by Denys Rolle 30 miles (48 km) southeast of St. Augustine,[17] on the east shore of the St. Johns River, south of Deep Creek.[18]

St. Augustine, the capital of the colony, was much smaller and less advanced than the capitals of the other Thirteen Colonies.[19]

### Slavery and economics

[edit]

East Florida did not establish a formal slave code until 1782. Those who were black or of mixed race of European and African origin and could not prove they were free were considered to be slaves. During the American Revolution, many Georgians and Carolinians moved to Florida along with their slaves. The colonial government, along with slave-owners, used slaves to construct defensive fortifications. A militia act that allowed for conscripting slaves as laborers and soldiers was passed in 1781.[16]

Goods produced and exported in East Florida included sugar, timber, indigo, rice, naval stores, and barrel staves; most of these goods came from plantations along the St. Marys and St. Johns rivers that used slave labor.[20]

Bernard Romans wrote the first account of Spanish fishing ranchos existing along Florida's southwest coast in 1770.[21] When the British took control of Florida, they monitored the fisherman but let them continue their activities. Governor James Grant was ordered to stop the fisherman from operating but did not enforce that order. At one point the fishing boats were suspected of being a threat to British control, but a complete review in 1767-68 found they were harmless.[22]

### Media

[edit]

Front page of the East Florida Gazette (Volume 1, no 16), a pro-loyalist newspaper

The East Florida Gazette was a pro-loyalist newspaper that was published weekly in St. Augustine from 1783 to 1784. It was founded by a loyalist printer, John Wells, and his brother, William Charles Wells, who had moved to St. Augustine from Charleston, South Carolina.[23][24][25] The paper was printed "'...at the Printing-office in Treasury-lane'".[26] Prior to the establishment of a newspaper, most news came into St. Augustine through gazettes that were published in Savannah, Georgia, and Charleston.[19]

The Wells brothers also published two books: Nature and the Principles of Public Credit, by Samuel Gale, along with The Case of the Inhabitants of East Florida, written by John Wells himself.[26] In 1783, another printer named David Zubly, who was a loyalist refugee from Savannah, Georgia, printed the first book in the colony, a copy of John Tobler's Almanack, at his home.[27]

## Spanish period: Florida Oriental

[edit]

Map of East and West Florida in 1819, the year that Spain ceded Florida to the United States by the Adams–Onís Treaty (ratified 1821)

Under Spanish rule, the provinces of East Florida and West Florida initially remained divided by the Apalachicola River, the boundary established by the British.[28][29][30] However, Spain moved it eastward to the Suwanee River in 1785.[31][32][33]

"Under Spanish rule, Florida was divided by the natural separation of the Suwanee River into West Florida and East Florida." – University of Florida

Spain continued to administer East and West Florida as separate provinces. The Spanish offered favorable terms for acquiring land, which attracted many settlers from the newly formed United States. There were several territorial disputes between the U.S. and Spain, some resulting in military action, including the Patriot War in 1812 and the filibuster at Amelia Island in 1817.[34][35]

An American army under Andrew Jackson invaded East Florida during the First Seminole War. Jackson's forces captured San Marcos on 7 April 1818; as well as Fort Barrancas at West Florida's capital, Pensacola, on 24 May 1818.

James Monroe's secretary of state, John Quincy Adams, defined the American position on this issue. Adams accused Spain of breaking Pinckney's Treaty by failing to control the Seminoles. Faced with the prospect of losing control, Spain formally ceded all of its Florida territory to the U.S. under the Adams–Onís Treaty in 1819 (ratified in 1821), in exchange for the U.S. ceding its claims on Texas and the U.S. paying any claims its citizens might have against Spain, up to $5,000,000.

In 1822, the U.S. Congress organized the Florida Territory, merging East Florida and the portion of West Florida that had remained under Spanish control until 1821.[36] In 1845, Florida was admitted as the 27th state of the United States.

### Population and demographics

[edit]

With the transfer of Florida to Spain, a number of former British subjects decided to stay while some Spaniards came to Florida. St. Augustine had a mix of both residents from the British period and newly arrived Spaniards. The rural areas settled by colonists were described as being "exclusively Anglo".[37] During the Spanish period, the population of St. Augustine "hovered" at about 3,000 people, with half of its population being black slaves. There were nine Native American towns in Florida, but those towns were not counted in the 1786 census.[38] In 1786, St. Augustine had a population of about 950 people. Three hundred of whom had some degree of African descent whether they were enslaved or not.[39]

### Economics

[edit]

With the return of the Spanish, the system of plantation agriculture developed in the colony during the British period remained. Although the production levels were not as high as other British colonies, cash crops like indigo, hemp, and rum made in Spanish East Florida led to economic growth there. As a result, St. Augustine became less dependent on the royal situado (royal financial payments for support). Trade became less restrictive during the second Spanish period as the Spanish monarchies enacted reforms allowing for trade between Spanish and non-Spanish areas, which benefited St. Augustine.[40]

St. Augustine was the largest port on the Atlantic Ocean south of Charleston. Ships would travel often to Charleston, South Carolina and Cap Français in Haiti where goods were traded and crews learned the latest news as well.[41] East Florida became economically dependent on the United States after Spain started to align with France and declared war on the British in 1796; as a result British trade largely stopped. Charleston began to surpass Havana as St. Augustine's biggest trading partner while Savannah, Philadelphia and New York City had become trading partners with the city. East Florida exported oranges, lumber and cotton to the United States while fish, grain and foodstuffs were imported from the United States.[42]

Spain was concerned about the Haitian Revolution, fearing that ideas of independence could be spread to their own colonies, including Florida, with Governor Quesada doing his best to follow the Spanish government's policy of prohibiting interactions with French possessions, "...forbidding the introduction of French ideas, books, citizens, or slaves originating from French possessions."[41]

## Governors

[edit]

### List of governors of East Florida

[edit]

Name  | Term  | Notes

|
|

John Hedges | 20 Jul 1763 – 30 Jul 1763  | capital at St. Augustine (acting governor)
Francis Ogilvie | 30 Jul 1763 – 29 Aug 1764  | acting governor
James Grant | 29 Aug 1764 – 9 May 1771  | Considered the inaugural governor.
John Moultrie | 9 May 1771 – 1 Mar 1774  |
Patrick Tonyn | 1 Mar 1774 – 12 Jul 1784  |
Vicente Manuel de Céspedes y Velasco | 12 July 1784 – July 1790  | capital at St. Augustine
Juan Nepomuceno de Quesada y Barnuevo | July 1790 – March 1796  |
Bartolomé Morales | March 1796 – June 1796  | acting governor
Enrique White | June 1796 – March 1811  |
Juan José de Estrada | March 1811 – June 1812  | Patriot War with U.S.
Sebastián Kindelán y Oregón | June 1812 – June 1815  | Patriot War with U.S.
Juan José de Estrada | June 1815 – January 1816  |
José María Coppinger | January 1816 – 10 July 1821  | First Seminole War with U.S.

## See also

[edit]

* The Republic of East Florida
* George Mathews (Georgia), Patriot War of East Florida (1812)
* Seminole Wars
* Mosquito County, Florida
* Spanish colonization of the Americas

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "The British Period (1763–1784) – Fort Matanzas National Monument". U.S. National Park Service. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
2. ^ a b The East Florida Society of London, Florida Historical Quarterly, Vol. LIV, No. 4, April 1976 Archived 14 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine
3. ^ The Impact of Loyalists in British East Florida Archived 10 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine, p. 7
4. ^ Kirschke, James J. (May 2005). "Steps toward nationhood: Henry Laurens (1724–92) and the American Revolution in the South". Historical Research. 78 (200): 185. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2281.2005.00227.x. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
5. ^ Waline, Peter (1982). "The Great Seals Deputed of British East Florida" (PDF). Florida Historical Quarterly. 61 (1) - via UCF STARS.
6. ^ Kotlik, George (2023). East Florida in the Revolutionary Era, 1763–1785. University of Georgia Press. p. 18\. ISBN 978-1-58838-486-7. Retrieved 8 December 2024 - via Google Books.
7. ^ Fletcher, Kristopher (2014). Finding Italy: Travel, Nation, and Colonization in Vergil's Aeneid. University of Michigan Press. p. 62, note 9. ISBN 978-0-472-12044-4.
8. ^ Wright, J. Leitch Jr. (April 1976). "Blacks in British East Florida". The Florida Historical Quarterly. 54 (4): 3–4.
9. ^ Kotlik, George (2023). East Florida in the Revolutionary Era, 1763–1785. University of Georgia Press. pp. 67 & 68\. ISBN 978-1-58838-538-3 - via Google Books.
10. ^ Bauer, Deborah (Fall 2010). "'... in a strange place...': The Experiences of British Women during the Colonization of East & West Florida". The Florida Historical Quarterly. 89 (2): 145–185.
11. ^ Mowat, Charles (April 1940). "The Land Policy in British East Florida". Agricultural History. 14 (2). Agricultural History Society: 75–77\. JSTOR 3739336.
12. ^ a b Peters, Thelma (October 1961). "The Loyalist Migration from East Florida to the Bahama Islands". The Florida Historical Quarterly. 40 (2). Florida Historical Society: 131.
13. ^ Peters 1961, p. 123
14. ^ Troxler, Carole (October 1989). "Refuge, Resistance, and Reward: The Southern Loyalists' Claim on East Florida". The Journal of Southern History. 55 (4): 563–596\. doi:10.2307/2209041. JSTOR 2209041.
15. ^ a b "History of the St. Johns River". The Jacksonville Historical Society. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
16. ^ a b Wright, J. Jr. (April 1976). "Blacks in British East Florida". The Florida Historical Quarterly. 54 (4): 6 & 9–10.
17. ^ Bauer, Deborah L. (2019). Trial & Error: Royal Authority & Families in the Colonization in the British Floridas, 1763–1784 (Thesis). University of South Florida.
18. ^ Schafer, Daniel L. (ed.). "Denys Rolle Plantation and Rollestown – Florida History Online". Florida History Online. University of North Florida. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
19. ^ a b McCrady, James Waring; Bragg, C. L. (2020). Patriots in Exile: Charleston Rebels in St. Augustine during the American Revolution. Univ of South Carolina Press. p. 39\. ISBN 978-1-64336-080-5.
20. ^ Wright Jr., J (April 1976). "Blacks in British East Florida". The Florida Historical Quarterly. 54 (4): 425–442.
21. ^ Stack, Margaret (2011). "2: Background History". An Archaeological and Archival Appraisal of 'Spanish Indians' on the West Coast of Florida in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. pp. 10–13.
22. ^ Covington, James (1959). "Trade Relations Between Southwestern Florida and Cuba, 1600–1840". Florida Historical Quarterly. 38 (2). Florida Historical Society: 119. Retrieved 17 July 2022 - via STARS.
23. ^ Wroth, Lawrence C. (1994). The Colonial Printer. Courier Corporation. pp. 51–52\. ISBN 978-0-486-28294-7.
24. ^ "The East Florida Gazette, 1783–1784". Journal of the American Revolution. 26 February 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
25. ^ Jasanoff, Maya (2012). Liberty's Exiles: American Loyalists in the Revolutionary World. Vintage Books. p. 380\. ISBN 978-1-4000-7547-8.
26. ^ a b McMurtrie, Douglas C. (1944). "The Beginnings of Printing in Florida". Florida Historical Quarterly. 23 (2) - via STARS.
27. ^ Williams, Linda K. (1975). "East Florida as a Loyalist Haven" (PDF). Florida Historical Quarterly. 54 (4) - via STARS.
28. ^ Bernard Romans (1999) [1775]. A Concise Natural History of East and West Florida. University of Alabama Press. p. 43\. ISBN 978-0-8173-0876-6.
29. ^ James Grant Forbes (1821). Sketches, Historical and Topographical, of the Floridas: More Particularly of East Florida. C.S. Van Winkle. p. 120.
30. ^ A Journal of the Proceedings of the Senate of the Territory of Florida at its Second Session. publisher not identified. 1840. p. 81.
31. ^ Wright, J. Leitch (1972). "Research Opportunities in the Spanish Borderlands: West Florida, 1781–1821". Latin American Research Review. 7 (2). Latin American Studies Association: 24–34\. doi:10.1017/S0023879100041340. JSTOR 2502623. S2CID 253149047. "When Spain acquired West Florida in 1783, the eastern British boundary was the Apalachicola River, but Spain in 1785 moved it eastward to the Suwanee River. [at Footnote 1:"It was some time after 1785 before it was clearly established that Suwannee was the new eastern boundary of the province of Apalachee."] (Few maps indicate this eastward shift.) The purpose was to transfer San Marcos and the district of Apalachee from East Florida to West Florida."
32. ^ Weber, David J. (1992). The Spanish Frontier in North America. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. p. 275\. ISBN 978-0-300-05917-5. "Spain never drew a clear line to separate the two Floridas, but West Florida extended easterly to include Apalachee Bay, which Spain shifted from the jurisdiction of St. Augustine to more accessible Pensacola."
33. ^ "Territory of Florida Map 1". Historical Florida County Maps. University of Florida. 1936. Archived from the original on 3 February 2016. "Under Spanish rule, Florida was divided by the natural separation of the Suwanee River into West Florida and East Florida. Upon the purchase of Florida, (1819) by the United States of America, West Florida and East Florida became two counties: Escambia County and St Johns County, so named and so ordained as counties with respective county governments by Andrew Jackson, Military Governor of the Territory of Florida."
34. ^ Cusick, James G. (2007). The other War of 1812 : the Patriot War and the American invasion of Spanish East Florida. Athens. pp. 293–294\. ISBN 978-0820329215.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
35. ^ Lowe, Richard G. (July 1966). "American Seizure of Amelia Island". The Florida Historical Quarterly. 45 (1): 19. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
36. ^ "An Act for the establishment of a territorial government in Florida". pp. 654–655\. Archived from the original on 24 January 2016. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
37. ^ Parker, Susan R. (October 1990). "Men without God or King: Rural Settlers of East Florida, 1784–1790". The Florida Historical Quarterly. 69 (2): 135–155\. JSTOR 30148603. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
38. ^ Mirow, M.C. (January 2015). "Law in East Florida 1783–1821". The American Journal of Legal History. 55 (1). Oxford University Press: 89–130\. doi:10.1093/ajlh/55.1.89. JSTOR 24465375. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
39. ^ Johnson, Erica (2017). "Becoming Spanish in Florida: Georges Biassou and his 'Family' in St. Augustine" (PDF). Journal of Transnational American Studies. 8 (1). doi:10.5070/T881036609. Retrieved 21 December 2023 - via escholarship.org.
40. ^ Velasquez, Daniel (2015). Persons, Houses, and Material Possessions: Second Spanish Period St. Augustine Society. University of Central Florida.
41. ^ a b Landers, Jane (2017). "Franco/Spanish Entanglements in Florida and the Circumatlantic" (PDF). Journal of Transnational American Studies. 8 (1). doi:10.5070/T881036608. Retrieved 21 December 2023 - via escholarship.org.
42. ^ Marley, David (2005). Historic Cities of the Americas [2 Volumes]: An Illustrated Encyclopedia [2 Volumes]. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 636\. ISBN 9781576075746. Retrieved 21 December 2005 - via Google Books.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Kotlik, George. East Florida in the Revolutionary Era, 1763–1785 (Athens: NewSouth Books, 2023) online book review
* Seibert, Wilbur Henry. Loyalists in East Florida, 1774–1785 (1929),
* Smith, Roger. Fourteenth Colony: The American Revolution's Best Kept Secret (2011)

## External links

[edit]

* Spalding Plate at A History of Central Florida Podcast

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* Dominion of New England (1686–1689)
* Indian Reserve (1763–1783)
* Quebec (1763–1783)
* East Florida (1763–1783)
* West Florida (1763–1783)
* New Ireland (1779–1783; 1814–1815)
* Columbia District (1810–1846)
* Red River Colony (1811–1818)
* Stickeen Territories (1862–1863)
* Colony of British Columbia (1863–1866)
* Colony of British Columbia and Vancouver Island (1866–1871)
* Province of British Columbia (1871–1903)

* Non-British colonial entities in the contemporary United States

* Columbian Viceroyalty (1492–1535)
* New Spain
* 1521–1821; Spanish Florida, 1565–1763
* New Navarre, 1565–1821
* Captaincy General of the Philippines, 1565–1898
* Captaincy General of Puerto Rico, 1580–1898
* Santa Fe de Nuevo México, 1598–1821
* Captaincy General of Cuba, 1607–1801
* Spanish Saint Croix, 1650–1651
* Spanish Texas, 1690–1821
* Las Californias, 1767–1804
* Spanish Louisiana, 1769–1801
* Provincias Internas, 1776–1821
* Spanish East Florida, 1783–1821
* Spanish West Florida, 1783–1821
* Alta California, 1804–1821
* New France
* 1534–1763; French Canada, 1535–1763
* French Florida, 1562–1565
* Hospitaller Saint Croix, 1651–1665
* French Saint Croix, 1665–1733
* Illinois Country, 1675–1769 and 1801–1803
* French Louisiana, 1682–1763 and 1801–1803
* New Netherland (1614–1667)
* Dutch Virgin Islands (1625–1672)
* New Sweden (1638–1655)
* Danish West Indies (1672–1917)
* Brandenburger Saint Thomas (1685–1754)
* Krabbeninsel (1689–1693)
* Scottish Darien Company (1698)
* Russian America (1799–1867)

Related Documents

* Discourse Concerning Western Planting (1584)
* Mayflower Compact (1620)
* Mourt's Relation (1622)
* Of Plymouth Plantation (1630–1651)
* Fundamental Orders of Connecticut (1638)
* Quintipartite Deed (1676)

* Category

* v
* t
* e

Former sovereign or unrecognized states within the contemporary United States

16th and 17th centuries|

* Kingdoms and Provinces of New Spain
* New Navarre, 1565–1821
* Santa Fe de Nuevo México, 1598–1821
* Tejas, 1690–1821

18th century|

* Provincias Internas, 1776–1821
* Florida Oriental, 1783–1821
* Florida Occidental, 1783–1821
* La Luisiana, 1769–1801
* Republic of Watauga (1772–1777)
* United Colonies (1775–1776)
* United States of America (1776–1783)
* Vermont Republic (1777–1791)
* State of Franklin (1784–1788)
* Trans-Oconee Republic (1794)
* Hawaiian Kingdom (1795–1893)
* State of Muskogee (1799–1803)

Early 19th century|

* Alta California, 1804–1821
* Republic of West Florida (1810)
* Republic of East Florida (1812)
* First Republic of Texas (1812–1813)
* Republic of the Floridas (1817)
* Second Republic of Texas (1819)
* Provisional Government of Mexico (1823–1824)
* 1835–1846; Mexican Texas, 1821–1824
* Alta California, 1821–1836
* Santa Fe de Nuevo México, 1821–1846
* Sonora y Sinaloa, 1824–1830
* Coahuila y Tejas, 1824–1835
* Las Californias, 1836–1846
* Republic of Fredonia (1826–1827)
* Republic of Madawaska (1827)
* Republic of Indian Stream (1832–1835)
* Indian Territory (1834–1907)
* Republic of Texas (1836–1846)
* Republic of the Rio Grande (1840)
* Provisional Government of Oregon (1841–1848)
* California Republic (1846)
* State of Deseret (1849–1850)

Late 19th century|

* The Great Republic of Rough and Ready (1850)
* The Kingdom of Beaver Island (1850–1856)
* Confederate States of America
* 1861–1865; Alabama
* Arizona
* Arkansas
* Florida
* Georgia
* Kentucky
* Louisiana
* Mississippi
* Missouri
* North Carolina
* South Carolina
* Tennessee
* Texas
* Virginia
* West Virginia
* Free State of Jones (1863–1865)
* Provisional Government of Hawaii (1893–1894)
* Republic of Hawaii (1894–1898)

20th century|

* Conch Republic (1982)

* Category

* v
* t
* e

Former British Empire and Current British Overseas Territories

Legend
Former territory
Current territory
*Current Commonwealth realm
†Current member of the Commonwealth of Nations

Europe

* Akrotiri and Dhekelia since 1960 (before as part of Cyprus)
* Corsica 1794–1796
* †Cyprus 1878–1960
* Gibraltar since 1713
* Heligoland 1807–1890
* Ionian Islands 1809–1864
* Lordship of Ireland 1177–1542
* Kingdom of Ireland 1542–1800 (integrated into the UK)
* Free State 1921–1931
* †Malta
* Protectorate 1800–1813
* Colony 1813–1964
* Minorca 1708–1757, 1763–1782 and 1798–1802

Africa

* Basutoland (†Lesotho) 1868–1966
* Bechuanaland (†Botswana) 1884–1966
* Cameroons13 1919–1961
* Cape Colony 1795–1803
* Cape of Good Hope 1806–1910
* Central Africa 1891–1907
* East Africa 1895–1920
* Egypt 1882–1922
* †The Gambia 1816–1965
* Gold Coast (†Ghana) 1874–1957
* †Kenya 1920–1963
* Lagos 1862–1906
* Madeira 1807–1808
* †Mauritius 1810–1968
* Natal 1856–1910
* Niger Coast 1884–1900
* †Nigeria 1914–1960
* Northern Nigeria 1900–1914
* Northern Rhodesia15 1924–1964
* Nyasaland 1891–1964
* Orange River 1900–1910
* †Seychelles 1903–1976
* †Sierra Leone 1792–1961
* Somaliland 1884–1960
* †South Africa 1910–1931
* South-West Africa12 1915–1931
* Southern Rhodesia14 1923–1965 and 1979–1980
* Southern Nigeria 1900–1914
* †Swaziland 1893–1968
* Sudan 1899–1956
* Tanganyika13 1922–1961
* Transvaal 1900–1910
* †Uganda 1890–1962
* Zanzibar 1890–1963
* Zululand 1887–1897

* 12Now †Namibia
* 13League of Nations mandate. British Cameroons is now part of †Cameroon, while Tanganyika is part of †Tanzania.
* 14Self-governing Southern Rhodesia unilaterally declared independence in 1965 (as Rhodesia) and continued as an unrecognised state until the 1979 Lancaster House Agreement. After recognised independence in 1980, Zimbabwe was a member of the Commonwealth until it withdrew in 2003.
* 15Now †Zambia

Asia

* Aden Colony 1839–1967
* Afghanistan 1839–1842
* Protectorate 1879–1919
* Bencoolen 1685–1824
* Banka and Billiton 1812–1824
* Bengal 1757–1947
* Bhutan (protectorate) 1907–1949
* Borneo 1874–1963
* British Indian Ocean Territory since 1965 (before as part of Mauritius and Seychelles)26
* Burma 1824–1948
* †Brunei 1888–1984
* †Ceylon 1795–1948
* †Cyprus 1878–1960
* Hong Kong 1841–1997
* †India18 1858–1947
* Java 1811–1816
* Kuwait 1918–1961
* Labuan 1848–1946
* Malaya 1819–1826
* Federated States 1895–1946
* Unfederated States 1885–1946
* Union 1946–1948
* Federation 1948–1957
* Malacca 1824–1946
* Crown Colony 1946–1957
* †Maldives 1796–1965
* Manila and Cavite 1762–1764
* Mesopotamia19 1920–1932
* Muscat and Oman 1891–1971
* North Borneo 1882–1963
* Crown Colony 1946–1963
* Padang 1781–1784 and 1795–1819
* Palestine19 1923–1948
* Penang 1786–1946
* Crown Colony 1946–1957
* Pulo Condore 1702–1705
* Sarawak 1841–1946
* Crown Colony 1946–1963
* †Singapore 1946–1963
* South Vietnam 1945–1946
* Straits Settlements 1826–1946
* Transjordan 1921–1946
* Trucial States 1892–1971
* Weihai 1898–1930

* 18Now †India, †Pakistan and †Bangladesh
* 19League of Nations mandate. Iraq's mandate was not enacted and replaced by the Anglo-Iraqi Treaty
* 26Legitimacy of territorial establishment disputed

North America

* Anguilla since 1650
* *Antigua 1632–1860
* *Antigua and Barbuda 1860–1981
* †*Bahamas 1670–1973
* †Barbados 1624–1966
* Bay Islands 1643–1860
* †*Belize 1871–1981
* Bermuda since 1619
* British Arctic Territories 16th c.–1880
* British Columbia 1858–1866
* 1866–1871
* Cape Breton Island 1754–1820
* †Dominica 1763–1978
* East Florida 1763–1783
* †*Grenada 1762–1974
* †*Canada
* Lower 1791–1841
* Upper 1791–1841
* Province 1841–1867
* Dominion 1867–1931
* Carolina 1663–1712
* Cayman Islands since 1670
* Columbia District/Oregon Country 1818–1846
* Connecticut 1636–1776
* Delaware 1701–1776
* East Jersey 1674–1702
* Georgia 1733–1776
* †*Jamaica 1655–1962
* Leeward Islands 1671–1816, 1833–1960
* Massachusetts Bay 1629–1691
* Province, 1691–1776
* Maryland 1632–1776
* Montserrat since 1632
* Mosquito Coast 1655–1860
* Nevis 1628–1983
* New Albion 1579
* New Brunswick 1784–1867
* New England 1686–1689
* New Hampshire 1680–1776
* New Haven 1637–1662
* New Jersey 1665–1674 and 1702–1776
* New York 1664–1776
* Newfoundland 1907–1949
* Newfoundland and Labrador 1583–1907
* North Carolina 1712–1776
* North-Western Territory 1859–1870
* Nova Scotia 1713–1867
* Paulet affair 1843
* Prince Edward Island 1763–1873
* Pennsylvania 1681–1776
* Plymouth 1620–1691
* Quebec 1763–1791* Queen Charlotte Islands 1853–1863
* Rhode Island 1636–1776
* Rupert's Land 1670–1870
* Saint Croix 1625–1650
* Saint Kitts 1623–1983
* †*Saint Kitts and Nevis 1882–1983
* †*Saint Lucia 1605–1979
* †*Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1627–1979
* Saybrook 1635–1644
* South Carolina 1712–1776
* Stickeen 1862–1863
* †Trinidad and Tobago 1889–1962
* Turks and Caicos Islands since 1799
* Vancouver Island 1849–1866
* Virgin Islands since 1666
* Virginia 1607–1776
* West Florida 1763–1783
* West Indies Federation 1958–1962
* Associated States 1967–1983
* West Jersey 1674–1702
* Windward Islands 1833–1960

South America

* Providence Island 1631–1641
* Willoughbyland 1651–1667
* Saint Andrew and Providence Islands4 1670–1688
* †Guiana 1831–1966

* 4Now a department of Colombia

Oceania

* New South Wales 1788–1901
* Van Diemen's Land/Tasmania 1803–1901
* Auckland Islands20 1807–1863
* New Hebrides21 1824–1980
* Queensland 1824–1901
* Swan River/Western Australia 1829–1901
* South Australia 1836–1901
* Pitcairn Islands since 1838
* New Zealand 1841–1907
* North Australia 1846–1847
* Victoria 1851–1901
* †Fiji 1874–1970
* Western Pacific Territories 1877–1976
* Papua 1884–1902
* Rarotonga/Cook Islands20 1888–1901
* Union Islands20 1889–1948
* Gilbert and Ellice Islands22 1892–1979
* †*Solomon Islands 1893–1978
* †Tonga 1900–1970
* Niue20 1900–1974
* †*Australia 1901–1942
* †*New Zealand 1907–1947
* †Samoa 1914–1962
* †Nauru 1919–1942 and 1945–1968

* 20Now part of the †Realm of New Zealand
* 21Now †Vanuatu
* 22Now †Kiribati and †*Tuvalu

Antarctica and the South Atlantic

* Saint Helena23 since 1658
* Ascension Island23 since 1815
* Tristan da Cunha23 since 1816
* Falkland Islands5 since 1833
* †Australian Antarctic Territory (transferred to the Commonwealth of Australia) 1841–1933
* †Ross Dependency (transferred to the Realm of New Zealand) 1841–1947
* British Antarctic Territory24 since 1908
* South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands25 since 1908

* 5Occupied by Argentina during the Falklands War of April–June 1982.
* 23Since 2009 part of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha; Ascension Island (1922–) and Tristan da Cunha (1938–) were previously dependencies of Saint Helena.
* 24Claimed in 1908; territory formed 1962; overlaps portions of Argentine and Chilean claims, borders not enforced but claim not renounced under the Antarctic Treaty.
* 25Claimed in 1908; territory formed 1985

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